Ultimate Blender 3D Character Creation & Animation Course from Udemy

Fully compatible with Blender 4.2.

Learn character creation and animation from A-Z with the popular 3D program "Blender"

Want to learn 3D character creation and animation but don't know where to start? No problem. In this course we go from A-Z, from the basics to the more advanced of character creation to animation. This course is project based so we will be using the skills we learn along the way to create some awesome animations.

Learn The Art of 3D Animation From The Very Basics to The More Advanced

We will kick it off with learning the VERY basics of Blender. How to navigate around the scene, manipulate objects and everything you need to know to be comfortable in Blender.

-Then we will start with our very first animation project. Learning the basics of animation, modeling, materials, shapekeys to animate the face and much more to create our very first animation scene.

-Our second animation will be all about curves, animating along curves, using particle systems, modeling, texturing and much more. By this point you will start to feel comfortable with Blender and 3D animation and have the skills and knowledge where you can start doing your own projects.

-Our third project is a full blown animation. Just this one alone will teach you everything you need to know about character creation and animation. From making our character to rigging and adding materials to then creating our whole scene, lighting, adding sounds and much more. By the end of this you will have created a full blown animation that looks great and have learned the skills needed to create your own.

-Our fourth project leads us to creating a human character. First making the human from scratch to then creating a full body rig that works nicely. In this one we go even more in depth with the node or shader editor and take a look at making different materials such as the eye material, skin shader and cloth material for our character. We will then fully animate this character, see how to make our own sounds and MUCH more.

-For our fifth project we will be lip synching and making a character that talks. Firstly we will be modeling and making our alien from scratch. Then adding materials and a rig to fully animate and control him. We will then see how to make a character talk and much more.

-Each project we do builds on the previous one and the further you go, the more you will be applying and doing.

-End With The Confidence and Know How to Be Able to Create Your Own Projects and Animations From Just An Idea to Finished Product

The Power to Create in the Palm of Your Hands

This course contains over 30 hours of content.

Over 150 video lectures.

And one awesome teacher.

-Use the skills you learn to then create your own artwork and animations

-Learn and follow along with the workflow of 5 complete animations from A-Z

-Finish the course with your very own animations and work of art that you can be proud of

-Lifetime access.

By the end of this course, you will emerge equipped with everything you need to know for character creation and animation. It is PACKED with character animation madness that you will enjoy and benefit from for a long time.

What's inside

Learning objectives

Students will learn how to make, texture, rig, animate & make characters talk. students will learn how to create several different animations from start to end
By the end of the course, students will be able to fully make, rig, texture and animate 3d characters including how to make them talk

By the end of the course, students will be equiped with the skills to make their own scenes and characters from start to finish and fully animate them
By the end of the course, students will learn the ins and outs of making characters, rigging them, animating them, making their own sounds for their animations!

Students will learn how to make, texture, rig, animate & make characters talk. students will learn how to create several different animations from start to end
By the end of the course, students will be able to fully make, rig, texture and animate 3d characters including how to make them talk
By the end of the course, students will be equiped with the skills to make their own scenes and characters from start to finish and fully animate them
By the end of the course, students will learn the ins and outs of making characters, rigging them, animating them, making their own sounds for their animations!

Syllabus

By the end of this section, you will have downloaded and installed Blender and will be familiar with the interface and basic movement and manipulation so that you can get on to animating!

Course Fully Compatible With Newest Blender

How to Watch The Course In 1080p

Downloading & Installing Blender

Blender's Interface & Buttons

Navigating in Blender

How to Manipulate Objects in Blender

Edit Mode & Manipulating Geometry

By the end of this section you will be able to make a simple animation with a character. We will learn about keyframes, Shapekeys, Graph editor and much more so that you can make your very own!

Free Textures For Course

Blender Shortcut Keys Cheatsheet

ALL .Blends For The Course

Modeling Our First Character

Adding Materials to Our Character

Making The Eyes & Mouth

Inserting Keyframes in Blender 4.1+

Animating Our Character

Parenting & Empties

Making Our Character Walk

Adding Shapekeys to Animate The Face

Animating Our Character & The Ball

How to Squash & Stretch Using A Lattice

Animating Our Camera & Rendering Our Animation!

At the end of this section you will be able to do more advanced animations of characters and cameras using curves and modifiers. We will take a look at arrays, booleans, curves & texturing

Second Character Modeling Array Modifier

Animation Using Curves

How to Add Textures

Adding Grass Using Particles

Lighting Our Scene Using HDRI

Animating Camera With Constraints

Mixing Textures

Rendering Our Second Animation

By the end of this section you will learn how to model, rig and animate a wooden mannequin character. We will also look at making and adding sounds and much more to create a full blown animation!

Using Reference Images

Modeling Our Character Part 1

Modeling The Arms & Legs Part 2

Modeling Our Character Part 3

Finishing Modeling Our Character Part 4

Texturing Our Character

How to Rig Using Armatures

How to Setup Ik Constraints

New Blender Bone Layers or Collections

Making Custom Shapes From Bones

Making Our Scene Modeling A Book

Making Our Scene Modeling A Pencil

Adding Textures to Our Scene

Modeling Miscellaneous Items For Scene

Finishing Putting Together Our Scene

Adding A Second Character

Animating Our Character Blocking Part 1

Animating Our Character Automatic Keyframes

Animating Our Character Standing Up

Viewport Rendering Animation

Blocking Animation Looking Around

Making The Walk Cycle

Blocking Animating Walking to Girl

Animating The Arm Switch

Animating The Arm Switch Part 2 First Part

Animating The Arm Switch Part 2 Second Part

Animating Characters Interacting

Animating Characters Interacting Part 2

Making the Female Walk Animation

Finishing Blocking The Animation

Viewing Our Blocked Animation

Animating Our Camera

Animating Our Camera Part 2

Tweaking & Fixing Our Scene

Adding In Secondary Movements

Animating The Lights

Adding Depth of Field

Finalizing Our Scene

Speed Tweaking

Making the Ending Part 1

Making the Ending Part 2

Rendering The Animation

Adding Sound to The Animation

Turning Our Animation Into Final Movie

By the end of this section you will be able to create a human type character and create a more advanced rig and animation for animating a human. We will learn face rigging and much more

Modeling Our 4th Character Part 1

Modeling Our 4th Character Part 2

Modeling Our Characters Body Part 3

Modeling Our Characters Hands Part 4

Modeling Our Characters Shoes Part 5

Modeling Our Characters Hair Part 6

Modeling Our Characters Detail Part 7

Modeling Our Characters Detail With Subsurface Part 8

Making The Main Rig

Creating Our Hand & Finger Rig

Creating Our Finger Rig Using Drivers

Setting Up Our Foot Rig

Rigging With Pole Targets

Rigging With Weight Paint

Making The Eye Shape Keys

Creating Mouth Shape Keys

Creating Mouth Shape Keys Part 2

The New Principled BSDF

The New Principled BSDF Part 2

The New Principled BSDF Part 3

Creating The Skin Material

Creating The Leather Material

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Ultimate Blender 3D Character Creation & Animation Course with these activities:

Review Blender's Interface and Navigation

Show steps

Familiarize yourself with Blender's interface and navigation to ensure a smooth start to the course.

Browse courses on Blender

Show steps

Open Blender and explore the different panels and menus.
Practice navigating the 3D viewport using different mouse and keyboard shortcuts.
Experiment with manipulating objects in the scene.

Practice Basic Modeling Techniques

Show steps

Reinforce your understanding of basic modeling techniques to prepare for character creation.

Browse courses on Modeling

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Create simple shapes using Blender's primitive objects (cube, sphere, cylinder, etc.).
Practice using edit mode tools to modify the geometry of these shapes.
Experiment with different modifiers to create more complex forms.

Read 'Blender For Dummies'

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Supplement your learning with a comprehensive guide to Blender's features and tools.

View Putting Knowledge to Work on Amazon

Show steps

Obtain a copy of 'Blender For Dummies'.
Read the chapters covering the fundamentals of Blender's interface, modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation.
Follow along with the examples and exercises in the book to reinforce your understanding.

Four other activities

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Show all seven activities

Follow Character Rigging Tutorials

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Enhance your rigging skills by following online tutorials and applying them to your own character models.

Browse courses on Character Rigging

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Search for character rigging tutorials on YouTube or other online platforms.
Choose a tutorial that covers the basics of rigging, including bone placement, constraints, and inverse kinematics.
Follow along with the tutorial, applying the techniques to a simple character model.

Create a Simple Animated Short

Show steps

Apply your knowledge by creating a short animated scene featuring a character you've created and rigged.

Show steps

Develop a simple story or concept for your animated short.
Create a character model and rig it for animation.
Animate the character performing a simple action or interacting with the environment.
Add lighting, sound effects, and music to enhance the animation.
Render the animation and share it with others.

Read 'Mastering Blender'

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Deepen your understanding of advanced Blender topics and techniques.

View Mastering Blender on Amazon

Show steps

Obtain a copy of 'Mastering Blender'.
Read the chapters covering advanced topics such as character animation, visual effects, and game creation.
Experiment with the techniques and examples presented in the book to expand your skillset.

Contribute to Blender's Documentation

Show steps

Improve your understanding of Blender by contributing to its documentation and helping other users.

Browse courses on Blender

Show steps

Visit the Blender website and explore the documentation section.
Identify areas where the documentation is lacking or unclear.
Contribute to the documentation by writing new content, editing existing content, or providing feedback.

Career center

Learners who complete Ultimate Blender 3D Character Creation & Animation Course will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

3D Animator

A 3D animator brings characters and objects to life through movement, and this course directly supports that work. The course teaches the basics of animation, from keyframes and shape keys to more advanced techniques using curves, particle systems, and rigging. By creating five full animations from start to finish, a prospective 3D animator learns the entire pipeline, from modeling and texturing, to rigging, animating, adding sound and lighting, and final rendering. This course is particularly relevant because it offers a project-based approach to animation, giving hands-on experience using Blender.

See salaries and explore the career path for 3D Animator

Character Artist

A character artist is responsible for designing and creating the visual aspects of characters. This course will help one become a character artist. The course teaches the full workflow for creating 3D characters, going from modeling and sculpting, to texturing and rigging, animation, and even how to create facial animation. A character artist would benefit greatly from learning these skills and techniques. The course's project-based approach, where the learner creates five unique characters, would provide a strong portfolio for those seeking work as a character artist.

See salaries and explore the career path for Character Artist

Game Developer

A game developer creates video games, and this course may be helpful for those interested in that field. The course provides skills in 3D character creation and animation, which are essential for many game developers. The course teaches how to model, texture, rig, animate, and make characters talk which are skills that apply directly to game development. This course is a particularly good fit because it provides hands-on project experience, allowing learning by doing. It also uses an open-source technology, Blender, which is a common choice in indie game development.

See salaries and explore the career path for Game Developer

Motion Graphics Artist

A motion graphics artist creates animated graphics for various media including videos, ads, and websites. This course introduces the skills needed to become a motion graphics artist. The course covers the basics of 3D animation, including keyframing, shape keys, and curve animation, all of which can be applied to motion graphics work. The course’s project-based structure, where students create full animations from start to finish, will help build the skills to be successful as a motion graphics artist. The course focuses on Blender, an open source program, which is useful for a motion graphics artist on a budget.

See salaries and explore the career path for Motion Graphics Artist

Visual Effects Artist

A visual effects artist creates and integrates visual elements into live action footage. This course will be useful for someone interested in visual effects as it teaches the core skills of 3D animation, character rigging, and texturing. A visual effects artist would apply the lessons about character creation and animation directly to their work. This course is project-based where learners create several different animations and characters from start to finish, which provides practical, hands-on experience for a visual effects artist.

See salaries and explore the career path for Visual Effects Artist

Technical Artist

A technical artist bridges the gap between artists and programmers, and this course will be useful for them. The course's content on 3D modeling, rigging, and animation are directly relevant for this work. A technical artist would benefit from learning how to make, texture, rig, animate, and make characters talk which this course teaches by doing. The focus on Blender is also relevant, as it’s a common tool in many pipelines, including those used by technical artists.

See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Artist

Product Designer

A product designer designs products for manufacture. This course may be useful for those looking to create 3D models of their products. The course teaches the basics of 3D modeling, texturing, and animation, which could be helpful in visualizing and presenting a product. By going through the process from modeling to rendering, a product designer can gain an understanding of how to create these digital representations. The specific skills in Blender and the project-based learning style are beneficial to potential product designers.

See salaries and explore the career path for Product Designer

Illustrator

An illustrator creates artwork for various media. While this is typically a 2D field, this course may be useful for illustrators interested in 3D. The course focuses on 3D character creation and animation, which can provide a new dimension of expression for illustrators. The course works in Blender, which is open source, and may be of interest to a prospective illustrator. The project-based approach, allows learners to quickly explore making 3D character artwork, and would benefit an illustrator.

See salaries and explore the career path for Illustrator

Digital Sculptor

A digital sculptor creates complex 3D models using digital tools. This course may be useful for those looking to begin in this area, as it teaches the basics of 3D modeling. This course will help a digital sculptor by showing how to create detailed 3D characters from scratch, and how to add materials and textures to them. Learning how to model, texture, and animate characters will help provide a digital sculptor with a holistic understanding of the process of character creation. The project-based approach, where learners create five different animations and characters, is well suited for prospective digital sculptors.

See salaries and explore the career path for Digital Sculptor

Concept Artist

A concept artist creates visual designs for characters, environments, and props, and this course may be useful to them. This course teaches modeling, texturing, rigging, and basic animation of characters. The course's focus on character creation and animation could help a concept artist develop and present character concepts more effectively. While concept art is often done in 2D, 3D skills can give a concept artist a different method of producing artwork. This course might be of particular interest to concept artists looking to expand their skill sets into 3D.

See salaries and explore the career path for Concept Artist

Architectural Visualizer

An architectural visualizer creates 3D models and renderings of buildings and architectural designs. This course may prove useful, as it teaches the fundamentals of 3D modeling and rendering. The course provides experience with modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering which are skills that directly apply to the creation of architectural visualizations. Learning Blender through character animation may help the learner become proficient in modeling, which could be applied to creating 3D representations of buildings. The project based approach to learning 3D will benefit an architectural visualizer.

See salaries and explore the career path for Architectural Visualizer

Marketing Designer

A marketing designer creates visual assets for marketing and advertising campaigns, and this course may be useful for them. The course provides an introduction to 3D character creation and animation, which can be applied to the creation of marketing materials that engage customers. The learner will be able to create characters that can then be used to promote products or services. This course helps a marketing designer improve their skill set by introducing them to the 3D world.

See salaries and explore the career path for Marketing Designer

Instructional Designer

An instructional designer creates learning materials. This course may be useful for creating animated learning content. This course teaches how to model, texture, rig, and animate 3D characters. Instructional designers may use these skills to enhance the visual appeal of their work. The project based nature of the course can help an instructional designer understand a full process from start to finish, which may be helpful when creating visual aids for course material. The course's focus on Blender is helpful as it is free and open source.

See salaries and explore the career path for Instructional Designer

Virtual Reality Developer

A virtual reality developer creates applications and experiences for virtual reality devices, and this course may be useful. The course provides hands-on experience in 3D animation, including rigging and making characters talk, which are directly relevant skills for developing VR content. Since many VR experiences involve interaction with characters, this course provides a foundation. The course uses Blender, a free open source tool, which is a useful platform for those interested in working in the field of VR.

See salaries and explore the career path for Virtual Reality Developer

User Interface Designer

A user interface designer focuses on the layout and appearance of software, and this course may be useful for them. While a UI designer doesn't usually make characters, 3D skills could be of interest. The course teaches the fundamentals of 3D modeling and animation. A UI designer with a basic knowledge of 3D could use these skills to build 3D interfaces, or understand the underlying technology. The course's use of Blender, which is freely available, is useful for experimentaiton.

See salaries and explore the career path for User Interface Designer

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Ultimate Blender 3D Character Creation & Animation Course.

Mastering Blender

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Comprehensive guide to Blender, covering advanced topics such as character animation, visual effects, and game creation. It is suitable for intermediate to advanced users who want to take their Blender skills to the next level. It provides in-depth explanations and practical examples to help you master Blender's powerful features. This book is more valuable as additional reading than it is as a current reference.

Mastering Blender

Paperback

Putting Knowledge to Work

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Provides a comprehensive overview of Blender's features and tools, making it an excellent resource for beginners. It covers the basics of modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation. It is particularly helpful for those who are new to 3D software or need a refresher on Blender's fundamentals. While not strictly required, it can serve as a valuable companion to the course.

Putting Knowledge to Work

Paperback

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Putting Knowledge to Work

Kindle Edition

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Ultimate Blender 3D Character Creation & Animation Course

What's inside

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Activities

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